NHL Player=Reagan Era Air Traffic Controller

I think you are over-estimating the amount of money that is available to hockey players outside the NHL. There is no evidence that European or even Russian leagues can support huge player salaries long-term. The amount of money the 30 NHL teams can make consistantly available to players, even under a cap, is unmatched anywhere else in the world.

Talking about alternatives to the NHL: As a player, I'm not sure I'd want my family with me if I was playing in Russia. It doesn't sound like a family-friendly place. This is a place where wealthy people are routinely kidnapped and held for ransom...

Talking about alternatives to the NHL: As a player, I'm not sure I'd want my family with me if I was playing in Russia. It doesn't sound like a family-friendly place. This is a place where wealthy people are routinely kidnapped and held for ransom...

Again ignorance wont put you anywhere. Vincent Lecavalier on a Quebec newspaper says that what he heard about Russia is far from the truth. Everyone was telling him that he need to have a bodyguard for his security but he doesn't have one since he's in Kazan. Everywhere he go , people is nice with him & he can go around any town to visit & feel safe.

Again ignorance wont put you anywhere. Vincent Lecavalier on a Quebec newspaper says that what he heard about Russia is far from the truth. Everyone was telling him that he need to have a bodyguard for his security but he doesn't have one since he's in Kazan. Everywhere he go , people is nice with him & he can go around any town to visit & feel safe.

So don't read everything you read over the internet.

An anecdote from bachelor Vincent Lecavalier is hardly definitive.

Crime against foreigners is a significant problem in Russia. This is easily confirmed by reading the travel advisories on the U.S. Embassy, Moscow's website.

The NHL is free to declare bankruptcy. So what? The league doenst make much money. Its the individual teams that do.

If a team was to go bankrupt, the message I would give to fans from a Sens fan is:: look forward to it! Although it was scary and hard to see the pot of the gold at the time the Sens were in bankruptcy, it turned out to be the best possible thing that could have happened for Sens fans. It allowed a new owner to buy the team at a rational cost.

It is often said that people who buy sports franchises often are willing to pay more than they are worth because they so want it for personal reasons and are willing to overpay. This artificially inflates franchise values that the owners wantto maintain. But having them sell at theirreal value works out much better for the fans.

Maybe the players could offer to go half in splitting on any franchise buyouts, in return for half of any future expansion fees.

Bankruptcy works in some cases, but I think you better think long and hard before you wish that for hockey. First off the NHL has nothing to do with it, it is the individual teams. If, for example, when the Sens declared bankruptcy they had 5 contracts that were over market they could ask the courts to void them, they would then become unsecured creditors, much like Mario in Pittsburgh. In the case where of the contracts they would likely be the largest group of creditors, and the players would end up owing the team, again see Mario. The real issue for the league is the number of teams, and allowing a bankruptcy to dissolve a team would be much better for the league. If, for example 10 teams file tomorrow (I truly believe there are 10 too many teams in the league), and the plan is to liquidate, not revitalize), the salary issues would go away, it then becomes a supply and demand issue, with 200 more players in the pool, how much does a Martin LaPoint get a year?